A Toronto woman is dealing with the fallout after a large maple limb crashed into her house, weeks after a city inspector pronounced the tree healthy.

Vada Kolish is dealing with the fallout after a large tree came crashing down onto her house on Denton Ave. on Friday night.

By:Fabiola CarlettiStaff Reporter, Published on Wed Jun 02 2010

Vada Kolish was already having a bad day.

Her cat had died at around 6:30 p.m. Friday and a friend was encouraging to her to go for a walk and purchase a lottery ticket, if only to attract better luck.

But just 15 minutes after she left, a large branch split from the massive city-owned tree on her front lawn and crashed onto her home on 7 Denton Ave., a two-floor detached 1914 house.

“I was devastated, heartbroken,” said Kolish, who was alerted by a neighbour's phone call.

When she returned, she saw the decades-old Norway maple had crushed the front of her east-end home, a house lovingly renovated and the first she owned by herself.

“My poor little house and my wonderful tree had both been destroyed,” she said. “The whole process is scary. I don't know when I'll be able to live in my home again.”

The old maple does not belong to her. But the city is not automatically liable for the damage. Instead Kolish must go through her homeowner's insurance.

This despite the fact that in March, worried that the tree would be affected by her plans to pave her driveway, Kolish did the right thing and called the city.

“Someone from the forestry department did come out in March and look at the tree,” said Kolish. The inspector told her the tree was fine.

Richard Ubbens, the city's director of urban forestry, said the four-storey maple suffered from internal dry rot, an uncommon form of decay not visible from the outside.

Ubbens acknowledged the damage was “pretty catastrophic,” but added that city trees are “very infrequently” involved in this kind of incident.

Royal & SunAlliance Canada, Kolish's insurer, will spearhead the investigation, assessing the damage and responsibility. Representatives declined to comment on whether the company would go after the city for damages or whether Kolish's rates could go up.

“Because this is a specific claim, we can't release that information due to privacy reasons and protocol,” explained Julia Oosterman, RSA's director of communications. She added the company is still assessing the damage to the house.

Meanwhile, Kolish worries about where the buck will stop.

“I've heard the insurance company horror stories,” said Kolish, who said she has never made a claim in her life.

The tree's heavy branches also ripped into a portion of neighbouring 9 Denton Ave., which the homeowner had been trying to sell.

“I had my first offer just before this happened,” said the neighbour, who has lived in the area for 14 years. She also was relieved that Kolish had not been home. “God, if she had been sitting on her front porch!”

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